Homeland Park Fire Department will use donations to repay $400K loan for new fire station

Homeland Park fire station broke ground with officials from Anderson County in a field across South Main Street from their current station in Anderson on Thursday.(Photo11: Ken Ruinard / staff)

The Homeland Park Fire Department's new fire station will be funded with a $400,000 loan, according to documents produced in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The new station is expected to cost about $800,000.

In October, Station 3 officials said they had raised $250,000 over an eight-year period to begin the project. However, David Rodgers, the station's chairman, explained that about $200,000 had already been invested into the project at the time of the groundbreaking ceremony.

Aside from their annual operating budget, Rodgers said all the station's money comes from fundraising in the community through things such as solicitation letters, boot drives where they ask for donations with firefighter boots at street intersections or their annual Independence Day fireworks event.

Rodgers said the loan is loan has a 20-year maturation term and has an interest rate of less than 5 percent.

"We hope to be able to retire the debt much quicker than 20 years," he said. "Our plan is not just to maintain [the monthly payment], but to exceed it each and every month."

The land was originally purchased in 2009 for $13,130, according to county property records. In 2010, the station purchased another acre of land of 23,284, according to documents they provided.

This year, they've paid $111,797 for the building, in addition to a $10,000 down payment for the general contractor and smaller amounts toward preparing the land and the project, according to the documents.

The station was originally due to open by spring, but because of the weather, Rodgers doesn't know if construction will start in earnest until March. He hopes it'll be completed by October.